Army sergeant major teaches peacekeeping in Nepal

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Gerald Cornell, the lead field exercise planner and facilitator for Exercise Shanti Prayas-2, stands outside a training area at Birendra Peace Operations Training Center in Panchkhal, Nepal. The exercise is part of the Global Peace Operations Initiative, a U.S. State Department program executed in the region by facilitators from U.S. Pacific Command. The training addresses major gaps in international peacekeeping operations. The program aims to build and maintain capability, capacity, and effectiveness of peacekeepers deploying to United Nations missions. The exercise brought together service members from 23 nations to plan, coordinate and execute peacekeeping training scenarios which peacekeepers can apply to real-world UN missions. (U.S. Navy Photo by Lt. Theresa Donnelly, U.S. Pacific Command Public Affairs)  

PANCHKHAL, NEPAL

04.06.2013

Courtesy Story

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command         

By Lt. Theresa Donnelly, Pacific Command Public Affairs

PANCHKHAL, Nepal - Some soldiers train for war, but one experienced infantryman is instead facilitating how to bring peace and stability for 11 nations during Exercise Shanti Prayas-2 in Panchkhal, Nepal, March 25-April 7.

"Peacekeeping is a complex mission,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Gerald Cornell, the lead field exercise planner and facilitator for Shanti Prayas-2. There are a lot of moving parts, unforeseen dangers, and rules that govern what you can and cannot do. Unlike a combat mission where the rules of engagement are relatively short, peacekeeping rules are relatively complex and it's something that has to be trained.”

Cornell, a 27-year Army soldier with multiple combat deployments, is participating in the two-week training exercise as part of the Global Peace Operations Initiative, a U.S. State Department program executed in the region by facilitators from U.S. Pacific Command. The training addresses major gaps in international peacekeeping operations. The program aims to build and maintain capability, capacity, and effectiveness of peacekeepers deploying to United Nations missions.

The exercise brought together service members from 23 nations to plan, coordinate and execute peacekeeping training scenarios, which peacekeepers can then apply to real-world UN missions. The exercise consists of a Senior Training Seminar, staff-officer training exercise, and field training.

While assigned to U.S. Army Pacific Command, Cornell became interested in this field during Exercise Cobra Gold in 2009 where a portion of the exercise included peacekeeping training. While observing the training "lane" for how to properly cordon and search an area, he shared some observations with the facilitators. Shortly after that, he was asked to officially join the GPOI team as the lead field exercise planner.

"When I started in this job, there were issues with using U.S. tactics, but after working with international subject matter experts, we are slowly getting the tactics out, since every nation has their own tactics, and instead we are concentrating solely on the principals of peacekeeping,” he said. “We can now change not only how the platoons function, but also how the trainers function."

Cornell said the program has improved significantly because of GPOI's ability to bring in humanitarian and UN stakeholders with extensive peacekeeping experience and implement their recommendations to the training. Much of the exercise focus is on what's called a "train-the-trainer" model, which involves building up a core of skilled peacekeeping professionals in GPOI nations that can then take this training back to their respective nations' peacekeeping centers to help grow future peacekeepers.

"The trainers have developed to where we did a lot of coaching and mentoring to get them to understand how to plan, resource and execute training to where they are today, where they grasp the concept of training management. Every year, the exercise gets considerably better," he said.

During the field exercise portion, which Cornell oversees, participants practice how to properly conduct a cordon and search of an area, establish and run a checkpoint, conduct convoy and patrol operations, set up and safeguard a UN designated site, and how to properly support a humanitarian aid distribution point.

Using UN standards for peacekeeping, participants are tested on objectives that reinforce cultural sensitivity, rules of engagement, respect for human rights and the protection of civilians.

Looking forward, Cornell hopes one day the GPOI program can reduce the amount of peacekeeping experts and instead pull from the international trainers that have been trained through the exercise to then further increase the capacity of nations deployed to conflict-affected areas.

"These trainers that we've been working with for the last five years are doing an excellent job," he said.

Each day, the Nepalese army trainers are given feedback by the GPOI facilitators on how the training objectives were met. The benefit of this process is that the trainers can make instant course corrections to then apply to the next day of training. They then see the improvements that are made and can grow from the experience.

"The Nepalese army has been absolutely fantastic,” said Cornell. “They provided us with the best training facility and the best group of soldiers to do this exercise; people who are passionate and care about what they do. They came in and absorbed everything that we've talked about.”

Cornell said that this military assignment is a particularly memorable one because of the positive impact the GPOI team can have on the participating nations.

"This has been one of the most rewarding jobs I've had as far as being able to influence such a large amount of people,” he said. “Through all of this we are able to make a huge difference throughout the world for all the nations involved in peacekeeping missions.”

• Date Taken: 04.06.2013
• Date Posted: 04.11.2013 00:23
• Story ID: 104982
• Location: PANCHKHAL, NP